ADUN Sekinchan Ng Suee Lim berkata DAP perlu menerima anugerah
pangkat dan bintang kebesaran dari istana untuk menangkis tanggapan
bahawa parti itu anti-Melayu.Menurutnya, ia bagi menutup mulut NGO-NGO pro-Umno yang gemar menjaja cerita mendakwa DAP menolak demokrasi berparlimen dan sistem raja berperlembagaan.
Masanya sudah tiba bagi pemimpin DAP terutamanya di Selangor yang kini mungkin telah banyak berjasa kepada rakyat selepas menerajui kerajaan negeri untuk menerima anugerah dari istana, kata Ng.
"Saya yakin sudah sampai masa kita kena terima. Sebab mungkin dulu, alasan kita, kita belum ada jasa, belum berbakti.
"Jadi sudah sampai masa kemimpinan kita kena rujuk semula, hitung semula, kaji semula untuk terima satu persatu, bukan semua.
"Ini akan memperkukuhkan sokongan DAP di masyarakat Melayu dan membaiki imej DAP di khalayak orang Melayu," kata Ng dalam wawancara eksklusif dengan Malaysiakini dalam bulan Ramadan yang lalu.
Ng sebelum ini menyuarakan cadangan itu pada mesyuarat agung tahunan DAP dalam bulan November 2010 – ketika pemilihan DAP Selangor sedang berlangsung.
Pada masa itu juga timbul desas desus bahawa Speaker Selangor, Datuk Teng Chang Khim yang pada masa itu masih belum memakai sebarang gelaran akan menerima pangkat Datuk dari istana Selangor.
Teng menerima kritikan hebat pada masa itu kerana DAP mempunyai polisi tidak bertulis yang tidak menggalakkan pemimpinnya menerima sebarang gelaran dan pingat kebesaran.
Beliau bagaimanapun tetap menerima anugerah itu daripada Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah pada 11 Disember 2010.
Pemilihan tersebut bagaimanapn menyaksikan Teng dilantik sebagai timbalan pengerusi DAP Selangor manakala Ng sebagai timbalan setiausaha DAP Selangor,
"Nasib baik waktu itu Tuanku yang bagi. Isu itu kurang sedikit," kata Ng yang mencadangkan agar hanya mereka yang berkhidmat selama lebih tiga tahun dalam kerajaan layak menerima anugerah itu.
Kem DAP Selangor
Ng turut ditanya jika beliau tetap akan bersama dalam kem Teng Chang Khim untuk pemilihan DAP Selangor yang akan datang.
Dalam pemilihan DAP Selangor lalu, Ng bertanding dalam pasukan Pelangi diketuai Teng menentang kem Perpaduan yang diketuai exco Selangor, Teresa Kok.
Mengulas perkara itu, Ng mengakui bahawa beliau kini dilihat sebagai pemimpin "bukan arus perdana" seperti Teng.
"Bagaimanapun, kami tidak ada haluan yang berbeza dengan parti. Perjuangan parti, prinsip parti, kita ada bersama.
"Tetapi cuma berbeza di sini, pendekatan. Formula yang kadang-kadang kami cadangkan itu ada sedikit berbeza dengan kawan-kawan yang lain lah. Mungkin begitulah.
"Saudara Teng ini agak kritis. Suara dia agak tajam, agak berani bersuara. Kemungkinan kerana itulah beliau dilabelkan sebagai tidak tergolong dalam arus perdana," jawab Ng penuh diplomasi.
Bagaimanapun, beliau berpuas hati dengan DAP Selangor yang diketuai Teresa Kok yang disifatkan sebagai pemimpin yang "mendengar pandangan orang lain", kata Ng.
"Saya nampak dia lebih sedia mendengar pandangan pelbagai pihak walaupun yang lebih kritis. Walau dari pihak kami sekali pun, beliau sedia mendengarnya," katanya.
Politik wang dalam DAP
Pada masa sama, Ng menggesa agar bibit-bibit politik wang, yang menurut pemerhatiannya sudah mula bercambah dalam DAP, dibasmi dengan segera.
Budaya berkenaan, katanya, dibawa bekas ahli MCA yang kini menyertai DAP selepas pilihan raya 2008 dan sudah terbiasa mengamalkannya dalam pemilihan parti mereka dahulu.
"Saya minta pucuk pimpinan kita berwaspadalah dengan gejala menggunakan wang ini.
"Saya khuatir ada pemimpin yang mula menggunakan wang untuk menarik sokongan ahli-ahli akar umbi. Ini kebimbangan saya," kata Ng.
Ng kini merupakan ADUN Sekinchan untuk penggal kedua selepas memikul tanggungjawab itu buat kali pertama selepas menang pada pilihan raya tahun 2004.
Beliau dan Teng merupakan dua wakil pembangkang dalam DUN Selangor sepanjang penggal 2004-2008.
Selepas pilihan raya 2008, Teng mempertahankan kerusi Sungai Pinang dan dilantik sebagai Speaker DUN Selangor.
Pada masa sama, Ng masih kekal sebagai ADUN Sekinchan dan tidak dilantik sebagai exco negeri walaupun lebih kanan dari segi pengalaman sebagai ADUN dari DAP.
Mengulas perkara ini, Ng akur dengan penilaian parti yang menurutnya telah memilih orang yang dapat menggalas tanggungjawab tersebut dengan baik.
"Ada kecewa? Saya rasa tak adalah. Dalam politik, yang penting kita boleh menang, kita boleh pertahankan kawasan, dapat beri perkhidmatan terbaik kepada rakyat.
"Impian kita dapat direalisasikan, iaitu selama ini masalah rakyat kita dapat selesaikan. Bagi saya, itu suatu kepuasan," kata Ng.
Pada masa sama, beliau cukup yakin mampu menggalas amanah sebagai exco sekiranya dipertanggungjawabkan berbuat demikian selepas pilihan raya umum nanti.
"Saya nyatakan kalau takdir mengizinkan, satu hari nanti (jika) ada peluang, saya akan mengalas. Saya yakin dapat melakukan kerja (exco) dengan baik," tegasnya.
Beliau turut yakin Selangor akan kekal ditadbir Pakatan Rakyat jika pilihan raya kelak berlangsung secara adil bersih.
Ia disandarkan kepada kualiti kepimpinan Pakatan Rakyat yang jauh lebih baik berbanding BN.
"Kalau segi Noh Omar, saya rasa dengan perwatakan yang samseng, rakus, gengster, rakyat tentu tidak mahu pemimpin sedemikian.
"Berbanding Pakatan Rakyat, Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim itu amanah, kerja kuat, pagi hingga petang tidak ada masa untuk berehat, seorang yang sudah kaya, tetapi masih memilih untuk bersusah payah (sebagai MB)" katanya.- malaysiakini
Khir Toyo,the gentleman, but not Noh Omar...
Former Selangor menteri besar Dr Mohd Khir Toyo is more of a ‘gentleman' compared with menteri besar-in-waiting Agriculture Minister Noh Omar, should the BN retake the state in the coming general election, says Sekinchan assemblyperson Ng Suee Lim.
"These two leaders have one thing in common: both are Selangor Umno leaders.
"Both of them are greedy, but the difference between Noh and Khir is that Khir is not as vicious. He is not a gangster," he told Malaysiakini during an interview on Aug 8.
Ng had previously helped to expose Khir's (right) Balinese style mansion in Shah Alam, eventually leading to Khir's conviction for graft.Ng's sights are now trained on Noh, who he claims has abused his powers, and the Tanjung Karang Umno division, which he alleges has bought land well below the market price.
Coincidentally, Ng noted, his state constituency is sandwiched between Noh's Tanjung Karang parliamentary constituency and Khir's Sungai Panjang state constituency.
Noh had previously denied the first allegation, and declined comment on the second. Meanwhile, Khir has appealed against his conviction and the proceedings are still under way before the Court of Appeal.
Both have sued Ng for RM10 million each as damages for defamation.
"So now my market value is RM20 million," Ng quipped.
Cordial relations still alive
He said that even after he had exposed Khir's mansion scandal, considered beyond his means as menteri besar, the two still greet each other when they meet and Ng has attended several of Khir's open house functions.
"He treats me well and this is ‘healthy politics'. There is no unhealthy political culture or gangsterism here."But Noh is unusual. Greedy is one thing, (but also) he is also egoistic, arrogant, fierce, violent, thuggish and a gangster. That's enough, at least six-in-one. Not three-in-one (like instant coffee) but six-in-one," he quipped.
Ng recounted an incident early this year when he and Noh Omar sat at the same table during a banquet hosted by a local NGO.
"Although we were just sitting at an NGO function, we argued," he said.
The banquet was hosted by the Sekinchan Fishermen's Association to mark the end of the year's work and as part of the run-up to the Chinese New Year celebrations.
He said that as soon as Noh (right) arrived and sat down, he asked whether Ng had received his letter.Noh: Hey! Have you got my letter?
Ng: No, what letter?
Noh: Summons! I want to sue you!
Ng: Not yet. If you want to sue, hurry up with the letter. Don't just tell me about it.
Noh: Don't worry, it will get to you.
Ng: If it gets here, I will fight it.
Noh: I want to sue you for RM10 million!
Ng: So sue me.
Info tech to the rescue
After that heated exchange, Ng said they ignored each other for the rest of the dinner.
"We did not speak. He played with his Blackberry and I fiddled with my handphone. No more talking. It was a little tense," he recounted.
He also recalled another ‘bad experience', this time with Noh's political secretary Mohamad Safie Asnawi, who, Ng claimed, had led at least 30 people to attack him in 2010.
Ng
said he was invited to Tanjung Karang to hear the grouses of local padi
farmers when he was attacked. He was hospitalised for two days, with concussion from the Nov 4, 2010, incident.When asked his response at that time, Noh claimed that Ng was attempting to start an illegal demonstration, and it served him right that the locals had made him pay for it.
"Is this the standard of a minister? His response seems to mirror his ego and thuggish-ness. As a minister, even if an opposing assemblyperson or anyone gets beaten, we should express sympathy and urge the police to investigate...
"Therefore, I labelled Noh ‘Menteri Samseng' (gangster minister). From then on, he became my main target," he said.
"Khir has the characteristics of a gentleman leader. Noh, not at all. He is more dangerous than Khir and I have never been (to Noh's open house), not even once," Ng laughed.
"I am not confident of going there for security concerns," he added.
Ng said another reason why he had his gun trained on Noh was his responsibility as the agriculture and agro-based industries minister.
Sekinchan's economy is largely based on rice-farming and fishing, part of Noh's ministerial portfolio. Ng said both industries are in jeopardy because of the former's policies.
For the farmers, he said they had to deal with Padiberas Nasional Berhad (Bernas), a government-linked company tasked with regulating Malaysia's rice industry.
"Now it (Bernas) is owned by Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary. It is a monopoly, meaning that if the farmers want to sell their rice to outsiders from Kedah, there are barriers and obstructions. Therefore, they cannot raise their prices," he said.
He noted that the Agriculture Department's records would show Sekinchan has the best quality rice in Malaysia, as well as being the region with the highest output.
Monopoly policy backfires
"We
worked hard to achieve a high quality and large output, but we do not
get a fair price for our efforts. The farmers are angry to this day, all
because of the monopoly," said Ng.Meanwhile, fishermen in Sekinchan face another problem: the lack of human resources.
"Fishermen with boats with Zone B permits make a living between eight to 12 nautical miles (from the coast). The Fisheries Department forbids them to hire foreign workers," said Ng.
Despite their best efforts to hire locals, there is a lack of interest in the fisheries industry and advertising vacancies proved unfruitful.
"In the end, many fishermen, whether they like it or not, and not for the lack of patriotism, were forced to hire foreign workers on the quiet, although this is illegal.
"If they hired (foreign workers) and get away with it, fine. If they were caught, they would be arrested, their boat would be confiscated, and they would be taken to court.
"For three months, their source of income is gone. What about their families?" Ng asked.
He also said he was confident his efforts to expose Noh would eventually topple him."I see that the people's response and support are getting more positive with each passing day, even though Noh has a large allocation for his constituency as the minister of agriculture.
"I heard that he continues to distribute that allocation and aid, but mostly to his cronies," Ng claimed.
"Although Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak paraded his transformation plans, the leaders under him are not following (him).
"If that is the way it is, I think we stand a chance of breaching BN's fortress in Tanjung Karang," Ng added.- malaysiakini
cheers.
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